With the advent of organic electrolytes it is possible to use lithium and similar active metals as anodes in electrochemical systems. The use of such active metal electrodes i.e. those metals are considered active which will liberate hydrogen from water. It is possible to achieve high initial voltages from the anode part of the couple. The lithium/metal oxide systems were found to perform well in the organic electrolytes, particularly those consisting of solutions of lithium perchlorate (LiClO.sub.4) in tetrahydrofuran (THF). However, the systems exhibited several defects. The electrolyte solvent systems presented the problem of excessive pressure build-up at temperatures above room temperature due to the high vapor pressure of the commonly used solvents and particularly of tetrahydrofuran. A further problem was the low conductivity of such solvent systems at low temperatures due to the decreased solubility of the lithium perchlorate (LiClO.sub.4) in tetrahydrofuran (THF) and in the other commonly used non-aqueous, organic electrolyte solvent systems.